Re-introduction
by Way2manyfandoms
Summary: Just a little post Last Guardian oneshot, Artemis is being reintroduced to his family a few weeks after they buried him. Internal conflict and fluff, but mostly fluff. Warning: major spoilers! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES! Thank you.


**Just some adorable fluff and internal conflict, but mostly fluff. Artemis may be a little out of character, but he's supposed to be. Enjoy. **

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><p>Artemis was sitting in the office chair.<p>

'No,' he thought, 'I am sitting in My office chair.' It had only been a week since he'd come back and, well, he was adjusting. Obviously slower than the others had hoped, but he was making progress.

He spun around in the chair, then, realizing that's something Artemis never would have done, stopped immediately. He looked over the monitors on the wall. He could see the whole manor from here, but no one could see him.

There was a knock on the door and Holly walked in, surprisingly not in uniform.

"Captain Short." He said with a quick nod. She shook her head, right back to the old formalities, and she was just starting to like the new Arty better.

"Actually it's Commander now." She said with the trade mark smirk she'd gotten from the original Artemis. He furrowed his eyebrows in honest confusion, an expression the old Artemis wasn't capable of making. He doesn't know about LEP rankings she reminded herself, then quickly explained.

"No one took over for Vinyàya, so I sent in my paperwork a few months ago, I just got the job."

"That's wonderful." Artemis said, and he meant it. Holly was and still is his closest friend, if anyone was fit to command section 8 it was Holly Short.

"But actually, that's not what i'm here for." She said, fidgeting a tad, which Artemis immediately recognized as something different, even if he'd really only know her for a week.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong..."

"Holly, i'm a little out of the loop, but I haven't lost a single IQ point, what's wrong?" She sighed.

"Butler may have accidentally leaked something to your folks about you being alive." Artemis sucked in a breath. He had hoped for another week at least before he would be re-introduced to his family. Ah well, it couldn't have lasted forever.

He began to stand up, placing one hand on the desk and reaching for his crutch. Holly rushed over to help him, but he pushed her away. Learning to walk again was even harder than remembering his old life, these legs weren't meant for walking. Clones weren't meant to exist at all, but he was alive because of them so he wasn't going to blow it.

"I'm going to have to do this on my own eventually Holly." He said, answering her unspoken question. "You aren't always going to be there to help me."

"We'll see about that." she whispered under her breath, he almost didn't hear it. He smiled lightly and slowly made his way out of the room. He managed to cross the hallway on his own, but stopped at the grand staircase. He cursed the old Artemis for not installing elevators. He didn't want to look back for help, but when he place his crutch on the first step, Holly was already there, supporting his other side, acting like the railing he couldn't hold onto.

Butler was standing at the foot of the stairs. He had tears in his eyes. Artemis had seen Butler cry more times in the past week than in the past 17 years.

Somehow, when his seventeen year old spirit had infused it's self into his approximately fifteen year old clone, it had jumpstarted the aging process, and the spirit won out, creating the seventeen year old body that Artemis currently inhabited.

Butler rested a hand on his charge's shoulder, and before Artemis knew it, the older bodyguard had embraced him. Artemis couldn't help leaning into him. He guessed that being gently hugged by a seven foot martial arts expert would make anyone feel safe.

The bodyguard pulled away and Artemis made his way to the door. as it opened, he had to sheild his eyes with his one free hand, he wasn't used to the bright sunlight. Holly poited out onto the lawn. Near the tree line, in a little white gazzbeo he didn't remember ever being there, were his mother and father. They were standing there talking, his mom holding a glass of wine.

'I hope she isn't drinking the new Les Folatières burgundy,' he though, 'that's supossed to be a gift for Juliet. Goodness knows she needs a good bottle of wine after what she's been through.'

The twins were running around, Becket chasing Myles, both of them holding action figures of some sort. They seemed perfectly fine considering they'd been possed by thousand year old fairy spirits six months ago.

"They're all fine," Holly told him. "Physically and mentally, I took the twins for a few therapy sessions in Haven." Artemis scoffed.

"Don't tell me you took them to Dr. Argon?" Holly smiled.

"He is the best around." Artemis groaned.

"I have never pitied a single creature in my life, but anyone who's been forced to sit through two hours with that... Idiot, has my pity." She laughed, rather loudly which drew attention from across the lawn.

Angeline was the first to move, after her wine had slipped out off her hands and spilled all over her sandels. She actually started running towards him, Artemis almost laughed at how cliché it was, and he would have if he hadn't been holding back tears. His mother hadn't bothered, water streaming down her face as she threw her arms around her oldest son. Artemis nearly fell over, but Holly kept him upright.

"Oh Arty." She said, running her hands through his hair to make sure he was real. "How-" she started, then saw Holly standing behind him, at 3'8" she was easy to miss. She must have understood, she'd known all about the People since she'd been possessed by Opal nearly two years ago, though as far as Artemis knew, she hadn't told his father.

"Magic." She whispered, to herself then to Holly: "Thank you." Holly just smiled and shrugged.

By now, Artemis the First had reach the two. He stopped suddenly and stared at his son, he joined in their embrace. Then he asked that same question:

"How?" Artemis took a shaky step back and gestured to Holly.

"Father, this is Commander Short, I don't belive you've ever interacted while you were concious."

"Pleasure to formally meet you Mr. Fowl, and please, call me Holly." A tad surprised at the height of the person in front of him, he hesitated before shaking her hand. He looked to his son for answers.

"Holly is the only reason i'm alive." Holly actually turned a little red.

"It wasn't just me, the whole crew helped, Foaly actually did most of the work, I just had to fill out several tons of paperwork." Artemis laughed. "I'm not joking, I had it all weighed when I was done."

"Are you sure everyone helped? I haven't seen Mulch around to welcome me back."

"Well, he didn't, but no one expected him to. Right now he's probably gaining back all the weight he lost." They shared their little joke while his parents look on in wonder. By now the twins had wandered over and recognized their big brother.

"ARTEMIS!" Becket screamed, tackling him. This time he did fall down, and the twins scrambled on top of him.

"Where were you? We thought you were dead!" Myles said with wide five year old eyes.

"That's enough boys," Angeline said, pulling them off. "Your brother's still healing, and he won't get better if you two keep hurting him."

Artemis smiled as a half dozen hands reached out to help him up. He had missed those little bundles of energy. There was a brief silence and Artemis could tell Holly was uncomfortable.

"Why don't we go inside to talk, it's a long story." Artemis suggested. His father nodded but looked a little worried.

"Exactly how much has happened?" He asked.

"Several novels worth of material i'd say, what do you think Holly?"

"At least... Eight books." She said with a smile. The man's eyes went wide, and he exchanged a look with his wife.

"How long has... Whatever this is, been going on?" His mother asked, lips pursed. Holly and Artemis II shared a knowing look.

"That's debatable, depends on how you look at the time stream." Artemis replied with his trademark smirk. Holly rolled her eyes, and turned back toward the manor.

"Come on Arty you have a story to tell." She said, holding onto his free arm to keep him balanced. "God knows I'm not telling the whole thing twice in one week."


End file.
